Oz : The Wicked Witches
by Violinsaretheangelsofmusic
Summary: Captain Hook has followed Belle and Rumplestiltskin to Oz. The Wicked Witches discover that only he can lead them to 'The Dark One'. Why do they want all his power? And how did Rumplstiltskin know about 'the slippers' that he sent Jefferson to Oz for? This is a crossover of the Wizard of Oz books, Return to Oz movie,Once upon a time and possibly other classic fantasy novels.
1. CHAPTER 1

Elsie Diggs was a ten year old girl. She had long black hair and green eyes. She and her parents travled with a circus called Barney and Bailum's Great Consolidated Shows. Her father was the circus' magician, and he was called 'The Great OZ'! (Actually, his full name was Oscar Zoraster Pharadig Issac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambrose Diggs, but all of that was so hard to remember, let alone spell, that he shortened it to Oscar Diggs. His stage name was "The Great OZ"). Her mother, Jenny Diggs was his stage assistant. When Elsie grew up, she wanted to be a magician just like him.

The day of July 2, 1875 was a very special day. Her father was taking her and her mother for a ride in the Circus' new hot air balloon! The Circus had bought it to fly over towns that they were performing in to advertise the show, and Oscar volunteered to be the balloonist. He had piloted the balloon several times now, and felt confident enough in his abilities to take Elsie and Jenny for a ride over the city of New York, where the circus had stopped for the weekend.

That afternoon,she was waiting in the 'school trailer' with all of the other children of the circus performers for the afternoon circus show to finish. All of them were tutored in this trailer by a teacher because none of them could go to school, due to the circus' touring schedule. At four o'clock, out of the trailer windows, the kids could see their parents coming out of the circus tent to get them, just as they did every day at that time. Elsie's heart began pounding wildly in her chest as she saw her mom walking across the grass. She was a tall beautiful lady with long brown hair. The door opened, and she walked inside. Elsie ran and hugged her excitedly. "Are you ready to go up in the hot air balloon?" Jenny asked eagerly.

"Yes!" Elsie piped.

The two of them walked down the trailer steps, and across the green grass.

She and her mom walked behind the circus trailers, and Elsie saw the balloon sitting in a clearing, fully inflated and ready to fly! Her father was already sitting in the basket. He smiled when he saw Elsie and Jenny walking across the grass. He was a tall handsome man with black hair. Elsie's hands tingled with excitement as she touched the rim of the basket. Her mother and father lifted her in, and then her mother climbed over the rim and sat down. "Oscar, are you sure this is safe?" Jenny asked.

"Certainly it's safe! I've flown it 30 times, and nothing has happened. Now help me untie the balloon so we can take off." Oscar said. Elsie eagerly helped her father untie all four ropes that were holding the balloon to the ground, and when all were untied, the balloon slowly rose up into the air.

he view from high above the city was absolutely breathtaking. Oscar decided to fly the balloon out over the water. He had a compass, so he was not at all worried that they would not find their way back to the circus. About an hour later, something very, very peculiar happened.

They were sailing out over a vast expanse of ocean, when suddenly, they were engulfed in a very bright light. When the light disappeared, they saw a vast island stretching across the horizon. Oscar attempted to turn the balloon around, but when he did, a formidable gust of wind hurled them over the island. No matter how hard he tried, the balloon would not turn back towards New York City.

"What is this place?" Jenny asked.

"I have no idea, but I can't turn the balloon around!" Oscar said with audible fear in his voice.

"What do you mean that you can't turn this thing around?" Jenny snapped.

"I don't know! When we saw that bright, I suddenly lost control of where this balloon was heading, and now I can't turn it around!" he stammered.

Ahead of them, Elsie saw a great desert. Strange purple smoke was rising from the sand, and the scent of it made her feel very ill. A great gust of wind suddenly rose the balloon so high up in the air that she no longer smelled the strange fumes and she felt much better.

A few minutes later, they began passing over what looked like a somewhat civilized country. Her father had brought a spyglass along so that they could look at objects in the distance. She placed the spyglass up to her eye, and looked around at the landscape. Small villages of yellow houses dotted the countryside. She saw people tending gardens and farms, and their clothes were also yellow.

"Hi!" Elsie yelled to a farmer, who appeared to be tending to his cabbage crop. He looked up at the balloon, dropped his rake and ran inside his house. About a second later, he emerged with a woman and two small children, also dressed in yellow. They looked up at the balloon,waved to Oscar, Jenny, and Elsie, and cheered happily.

"They must never have ever seen a hot air balloon!" Jenny laughed.

"Well, hot air balloons aren't something that one sees everyday." Oscar chuckled.

Elsie peered over the balloon basket and saw a group of people, all dressed in yellow running after the balloon. They were yelling something at the Diggs family, but the balloon was too high up in the air for any of the Diggs' family members to understand what they were saying.

The balloon passed over a forest, and on the other side of the forest, the houses were purple. Strangely enough, in this part of the countryside, all of the farmers were wearing purple. But instead of cheering and running after the balloon, they screamed in terror and ran into their homes.

"I am going to have to find somewhere to land because it looks as if we are running out of fuel." Oscar said as he looked at the fuel gage. "Daddy, are we going to be stuck here?" Elsie asked.

Oscar sighed and said, "Well, I hope not."

" If we are, The people here seem awfully nice!"

"Yeah, but we don't know anything about this country. We want to go home!" Jenny mumbled.

Oscar slowly lowered the balloon to the ground. "Now what, we don't have anything to eat or anything! We're going to starve to death!" Jenny lectured.

"It looks like there is a grove of apple trees over there." Oscar said as he stepped out of the basket. Once he, Elsie, and Jenny were firmly on the ground and out of the basket, they walked over to the grove.

Then, something very interesting caught Elsie's eye. Through the trees, she saw what looked like a strange purple, pink, and blue cloud. Curiously, she walked towards it. All of a sudden, something very soft, and heavy fell on top of her head, knocking her over.

"Elsie, are you alright?" Oscar yelled as he ran to help her up.  
"I think so daddy." Elsie replied as she looked around to see what knocked her down. The object had also left a lot of very large particles of dirt in her hair.

"Hey look at that!" Jenny said as she pointed to something that was lying on the ground. It appeared to be a very large, red gumdrop, and it was sitting on the ground right next to the spot were Elsie had been standing when the mysterious object fell on her! A thick piece of red licorice was dangling from it.

Excited, Elsie put her hand on the object. Then, she smelled it, and it was indeed, a gumdrop. And the "dirt" that the object had left in her hair was the sugar that coated the outside of it.

"Wait a minute! This was...hanging on something!" Elsie breathed. "Hey! What are you dong? Give me back my gumdrop! GO PICK YOUR OWN!" A very angry sounding voice yelled from the top of the tree.

"I'm I'm so sorry! I didn't know that it belonged to anyone!" Elsie whimpered in great fear. She looked in the treetops above her, and did not see anyone sitting in the tree. "Where are you?" she called.

"I'm right here! Can't you see me?" the voice yelled. Elsie looked up and saw a squirrel sitting on a branch, flipping it's tail angrily, and shaking it's paw at her. "Did you talk?" she yelled to the squirrel.

"Of course I can talk! Now give me back my gumdrop!" the squirrel snapped.

"Quiet Chippy McNutty!" A somewhat calmer sounding man's voice said from below Elsie. A raccoon suddenly walked out from behind a bush.  
"You can talk too?!" Elsie squealed with delight. "All of the animals in Oz can talk, don't you know?" the raccoon said.

"No, I'm from Omaha, and none of the animals in Omaha can talk."

"What do you mean quiet? She should go get her own!" the squirrel continued.

"Quiet! Don't you know who these honored guests in our forest are?" the raccoon said.

"No! How can they be honored guests if-"

"This... is the great Oz! The hero of that this country has been waiting for for a hundred years!" the raccoon said with a tone of great reverence.

"He is the great Oz! I saw it on his flying contraption as I was flying here today!" A Cardinal chirped.

"Well, I am a very good magician. My stage name is The Great Oz, but my real name is Oscar Diggs." Oscar said as he flushed red.

"Magician, is that similar to a Wizard, Wicked Witch, or sorcerer?" the raccoon asked.

"I am an illusionist with Bailum and Barney's Great Consolidated shows."

"I don't know what that is!"Chippy snapped.

" I perform magic tricks for people in a circus."

"Magic?! So you are a wizard!" the squirrel yelled. By then an audience of rabbits, raccoons, possums, squirrels, and birds of every sort had gathered around them

The raccoon stood up on his hind legs and said, "All of you can see that this man is the great Oz. Even his very clothing shows that he is a friend of the Winkies, Gillikins, Quadlings, and Munchkins. He wears a red coat, the color of the Quadlings. His pants are Blue, the color of the Winkies. His hat is purple, the color of the Gillikins. Finally, his shirt is white, which as all of you know, is the color of good witches and wizards in Oz. Also, these two ladies are both wearing white dresses, which means that they are good witches!"

There was a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs!" as the raccoon made his solemn speech.

"This is all the talk in Winkie Country! He sailed over the Deadly Desert in a basket from what I heard!" a goldfinch said.


	2. CHAPTER 2

Chippy yelled, "Well, in this case, I will not only give you my gumdrop, but I will take you all the way to the Confectionery Forest!"

"Where's that?"Oscar asked.

"Right this way! Follow me!"Chippy yelled as he bounded through the treetops, in the direction of the strange pink cloud.

The Diggs family walked after him. The raccoon followed Oscar closely. "My name is Ringo, sir." The raccoon said. "Very nice to meet you Ringo! Could you tell me a little bit about this country?"

"This is the Country of Oz. It is cut off from the rest of the world by the Deadly Desert, and anything that touches the sands of the desert dies immediately. The capital city of Oz is called Ozcot. Oz used to be ruled by either a King or a Queen. If a king ruled, his title was Oz, and if a queen ruled, her title was Ozma. One hundred years ago, the country of Oz was ruled by a king named Pastoria. Oz is divided into four kingdoms: The north is called Gillikin country, the west is called Winkie Country, the south is called Quadling Country, and the east is called Munchkin Country. The people who live in each kingdom each had their own king, but they were all under the rule of either Oz or Ozma. "

"What happened to the king?" Oscar asked.

The raccoon sighed and said, "Well,one day, four evil Wicked Witches and one wicked man came from a mysterious valley in Gillikin country. Their names are Mombi, Gertrude, Hortensia, Schartzmugel, and Francis. They decided to usurp the throne of Pastoria and rule Oz for themselves. Mombi rules this country, Gillikin Country, Gertrude rules Quadling Country, Hortensia rules Winkie Country,Schartzmugel rules Munchkin Country, and Francis rules Ozcot. All of the people of Oz are now slaves of all of them. No one knows what became of our king. "

"Dear me, that sounds just awful!" Oscar moaned. "But, I am not from this country. I don't think that I am the man who you all are looking for."

"It doesn't matter if you are from Oz or not. You had the name of our country on your balloon. Also, you, being from another world, may possess knowledge that may help us conquer the Wicked Witches. Francis is just a human, and he will not be so difficult to overthrow once you conquer the Wicked Witches."

Elsie said, "My grandparents live in Black River Falls Kansas. There, a woman named Almira Gulch is the mayor, and owns half the county and makes everyone there absolutely miserable! Are they worse than her?"

"Probably so. Does she practice magic?"

"No, she's terrified of it!"

Elsie shrieked, "LOOK!" as they came to the edge of the forest.

The strange cloud that she had seen was not a cloud. It was a tree top.

Ahead of them, a massive forest stretched for many miles, and It was a very, VERY unusual forest.

The trunks of the trees were not wood, but chocolate bark with colorful candies on them. They were at least 20 feet high, and cotton candy of all colors grew out of their branches. Large gumdrops, candy apples peppermints, hard candies, lollypops,caramels, and ribbon candy dangled from them. Gummy worms crawled in and out of holes in the candy apples. On the ground, Elsie saw a strange looking seed pod. She opened it, and about 30 jelly beans popped out.

The grass of the forest floor was bright and colorful easter grass.

Elsie saw a very large dark colored rabbit digging in the easter grass. It sat bolt upright when it heard Elsie's footsteps, and she could see that it was made entirely of chocolate!

"Ooh!" It shrieked when it saw Elsie. It bounded away in terror. "It's alright! I'm not going to eat you!" she yelled after it.

Through the trees, she saw several large gummy bears and other creatures that looked like large animal crackers nibbling away at the grass. Some were drinking by a stream which was filled with fruit punch instead of water.

Chippy bounded through the trees and chirped, "The Great Oz is here!"

"Oz?" One of the gummy bears asked.

"Yes! He's right over there!" Chippy said.

A large red gummy bear looked at Oscar, Elsie, and Jenny. "They won't eat us, will they?" he asked.

"How can you be so ridiculous?! You know that the savior of the land of Oz wouldn't eat you!"

The huge red bear sauntered over to them. "Are you really who Chippy says you are?" he asked Oscar.

Oscar sighed and said, "Well, I hope so, but I don't know. I am just a magician from Omaha. I was taking my wife Jenny and my daughter Elsie on a hot air balloon ride, and the wind blew us here. The people of this land think that I'm supposed to be king of Oz, but I really don't know."

"You and your family can eat anything you like in the forest, as long as it doesn't move and talk."

"Thank you so much. My family and I are starving.


	3. Chapter 3

Unfortunately, all of this happiness and joy in the land of Oz did not go unnoticed by the Wicked Witches. Hortensia,The Wicked Witch of the West, was the first to become aware of the Diggs family's presence. She was extremely old, and had only one eye which functioned as a telescope. With her one eye, she could see all over Winkie Country.

That day, as she was preparing to throw her Winkie chef-slave over the castle balcony for burning her grilled cheese sandwich, something on the horizon caught her eye. She saw a strange object flying over the desert, and on it were written the words, "Bailum and Barney's Great Consolidated Shows featuring The Great Oz!"

"AAH!" the witch shrieked, dropping the slave on the ground head first. Seizing this very rare escape opportunity, the slave quickly scrambled to his feet and bolted out of the castle.

Trembling with fear, the witch scrambled over to her crystal ball, and called upon the most evil witch of all. "Mombi! Mombi!" She screamed into the ball. Her friend's face appeared in the crystal. "What?" Mombi asked. "I have terrible news!" Hortensia whimpered.

"What." Mombi said, rolling her eyes.

"A member of Pastoria's family has come back to Oz!" Hortensia yelled.

"Don't be ridiculous! I took care of every member of Pastoria's family!"

"But there is a flying contraption here and, well you have to see it for yourself!"

Mombi sighed and said, "Alright, I'm going to look in my Crystal Ball and try to see this thing that you say has entered our land."

She disappeared and reappeared a second later. She gasped, "My god! You're correct! But, I do not believe that he is a family member of King Pastoria. Still, I will call a meeting of the five rulers of Oz, and we will decide how to best proceed in this matter. We shall meet in your country, where he currently is."

"Wait, I see that he has crossed out of Winkie Country and into your land!" Hortensia growled.

"Ugh! Okay, I have an idea. We will all meet in my land, and the rest of you ladies and Mayor Francis will be here in exactly half an hour no ifs, ands, or buts! In the mean time, I will watch these people in my crystal ball and try to figure out what they are up to!" Mombi snapped.

"That sounds like a better idea!" Hortensia agreed, grinning widely.

Mombi's face disappeared from the crystal ball. Hortensia grabbed her broom, sat on it, jumped off the balcony, and flew away towards Gillikin Country.

Hortensia, the Wicked Witch of the West, flew into the window of the highes tower of Mombi's castle. Inside waiting were Mombi, Schartzmugel, and Gertrude. There were several other people there also: Lord Googly-Goo of Jinxland, Hortensia's sister Blinkie, and Mayor Francis of Ozcot.

All of the Wicked Witches were born and raised n the country of Jinxland, which was in a valley on the very northernmost edge of Gillikin Country. There is a reason why it was called Jinxland. The inhabitants of that small valley were mostly secluded from the rest of Oz, and the laws of Oz were not obeyed very well there. The Kings and Queens of Jinxland had much difficulty controlling Magic, and many Wicked Witches had been torturing the citizens of the small country for centuries.

Blinkie was the oldest witch at the meeting, and she had taught the other witches everything that she knew about witchcraft. She was also Hortensia's great-great-great-great Grandmother, and ran the school of witchcraft in Jinxland. She, like Hortensia, only had one eye, and she covered the other socket with a pirate patch. She had long waist length curly white hair and yellow teeth. Everyone in Jinxland called her 'Blinkie' because she only had one eye, and people had been calling her this name for so long that she no longer remembered her real name.

All of the Wicked Witches were made immortal by a potion of very dark magic, which they drank during the final step in their witch training when Blinkie bestowed upon them the title of 'Wicked Witch'.

Schartzmugel and Gertrude also had long white hair, but they had both their eyes. Mombi, was the most unusual of all. She was at least 100 years older than the others,except Blinkie, but Mombi looked no older than 30. She was very beautiful, but had a harsh, evil looking face. She had long brown hair, and always dressed in the very finest clothing. There was a family legend that an ancestor of hers was actually a fairy, but she was never entirely sure of that. Three hundred years before, a good fairy descended on Jinxland and married a kind ancestor of hers. Gradually, the magical descendants of the two became corrupted by the evil witches of Jinxland. Because of her fairy ancestry, she had a longer lifespan than ordinary humans and possessed fairy magic. Therefore, she was the most powerful of all the Wicked Witches.

Lord Googly-Goo was a courtier of King Phearse of Jinxland, and gave Blinkie and the Wicked Witches lots of power in his country. He had black hair and black eyes. He was very handsome, except for when he smiled because he didn't have any teeth except for two long fangs. Mombi had tried unsuccessfully for many years to win his affections. He always refused her because he, being a man of royalty, wanted to marry a lady of title, such as a princess. Mombi got very angry with him when he told her that 'Wicked Witch' was not a title used for royalty, and that he wasn't going to marry 'a commoner'.

Googly Goo and Blinkie did not venture out of Jinxland for any reason other than to visit the Witches.

His brother Francis ruled Ozcot. Mombi placed him as ruler after overthrowing Pastoria. He was a tall thin man with black hair. He, unlike his brother, had all of his teeth.

"Gather around the crystal ball!" Mombi hissed. In the crystal ball, the witches could see Elsie, Oscar, and Jenny sitting in the forest eating the candy.

"What's so special about them?" Francis asked.

"Look here at his flying contraption!" Mombi snapped. Suddenly the image changed from the happy forest scene to the deflated balloon lying in a field. It had the words, "The Great Oz" written on it.

"Well, it's, um, an awfully strange coincidence that he has the same name as our country." Schartzmugel said.

Mombi slammed her fist down on the table the crystal ball was sitting on and bellowed, "CAN'T YOU TELL THAT THE LITTLE GIRL HAD SPECIAL MAGICAL POWERS!?" She yelled.

"Um, no." the other witches said.

Mombi seethed with anger. She was the only person there who had ever actually seen faries, and being part fairy herself, was the only one who could sense when a person had been blessed by fairies at birth. There was something about Elsie's smile and laugh that was a sign of a fairy blessing.

Mombi was now gripping the table so hard that her fingers turned white. Gertrude looked quizzically at the crystal ball, then at Mombi. "She just looks like a little girl to me." she said.

Mombi's head was now spinning with fear and fury. She had banished the fairies from Oz long before even the beginning of her rule, and did not believe that she would ever have to battle good fairy magic ever again. Plus, the fact that the girl and her family had come from a strange world in a flying contraption with the word 'Oz' written on it terrified her more.

Then Mombi had an thought which helped her to gain her composure a little. But as she thought about it, it seemed so good, that she began cackling madly. The others stared at her, obviously perplexed by her sudden mood change.

"They already have been told about us." Mombi mumbled.

"So?" Gertrude asked.

Mombi slammed her fist down on the table so hard that the bang startled everyone else in the room.

She took several deep breaths, then decided to ask the others a question.

"Now, I am going to ask all of you a question, and I don't want any of you to think I'm silly for asking it." Mombi said. The others looked at each other in surprise that Mombi made such a request. They all knew that if they laughed at Mombi at a time when she wasn't trying to be funny that their mistake would be punished by death.

"Yes ma'am?" Schartzmugel asked.

"Do you...believe in fairies?"

The other witches all looked at each other and shook their heads. Mombi said, "Several hundred years before any of you were born, I banished fairies from Oz because they possess very powerful good magic. Now, since I had seen some people who had been blessed by fairies, I can tell who has received a fairy's blessing. There is something about her smile and laugh that frightens me."

The others were silent for a moment. All of them had been told that fairies didn't exist, and now their leader was trying to teach them otherwise.

Lord Googly Goo said, "There are numerous accounts of fairy bands flying over Jinxland in historical documents."

"I have an idea." she whispered, grinning deviously from ear to ear.

"What?" Schartzmugel asked eagerly.

"We will take them all as slaves!" Mombi barked. Schartzmugel narrowed her eyes in confusion. "But, they are already became your slaves once they stepped out into Gillikin Country!" she said.

"No!I mean,Three of us will take them all into our palaces, and abuse them all day, and at night, they will sleep in the dungeons, if they get to sleep at all! It is the best sort of revenge, to keep someone a prisoner and remind them all day every day that YOU WON, rather than killing them!" Mombi sneered.

"There is a problem." Lord Googly Goo said.

"What is it sir?" Blinkie asked.

"We have no way of getting through the valley of that region of Gillikin Country safely without the use of a ship that can navigate the tough waters. Do any of you have a ship?"

"No, I thought that Oz was landlocked."

Truth be told, there were so many valleys in Gillikin Country that were cut off from the rest of Oz that Mombi had never seen the Candy Forest before that day.

"Well, there is a river that runs through it. I know a person who owns a ship that can navigate such tough waters." Lord Googly Goo said. A sly smile crept across his face.

"Who?" The Witches asked.

"There's a man who has been living in my country for several weeks. His name is Captain Hook!"

Mombi asked, "Captain Hook? Is that his real name?"

"Well no. His real name is Killian Jones, but he is called Captain Hook because his wife's ex-husband cut his hand off, and he used a rope hook from his ship as a prosthetic hand." Googly Goo said, his chest swelling with pride as the witches gawked at him for sharing this secret information with them.

"But, there is only one problem." Lord Googly Goo said.

"What is that?" Mombi asked.

"The Captain may be a pirate, but he will not ever hurt a lady. We must think carefully about how we will approach persuading him to bring the family to us without telling him what we are up to. It may be worth it to wait a few days and formulate a good plan to persuade the captain to bring them to us."

"Why can't wer just kill him and take his ship?"

"Because Mombi, these things must be done delicately! I have noticed something else about this man and his ship!"

There was a pause. "Well, cough it up! What is it?" Blinkie snapped.

"I have the History Book of Oz that we took from Pastoria's palace when we overthrew him. All of us know that there is a person here in Oz who possesses extremely powerful dark magic, but none of us have been able to figure out who it is or how to find them. That is, until I took the Oz Book abord the Jolly Rodger with me when the Captain and I were sailing to the other side of Jinxland. I noticed something very odd in the book. As I was looking through the book to see what dangers we might encounter beforehand, I saw a line pop up which read, "The Dark One is tending his garden in Munchkin Country". Curious, I summoned the name of the person along with Captain Hook's, and I saw written in the book that he has a spell of protection around him so that only Captain Hook can find him. His name is Rumpelstiltskin and he wants Captain Hook to find him because he is seeking revenge on Hook for taking his wife. That is why his name only shows up in the book when abord the Jolly Roger. We cannot kill Captain Hook because if we did, we will never find out where the Dark One is!"

The Lord of Jinxland had all of the witches undivided attention. For a hundred years, they had all sensed a presence of a person who had a very powerful sort of magic, and now, this Captain Hook person might be able to help them find him. They could see a strange haze in Munchkin Country when they tried to look at him in their crystal balls, and when they tried to go to that region of Munchkin Country to look for him, they could not find anything.

Every country has a magical history book which keeps an account of everything that happens in it, and this is the magical History book of Oz. It was stolen by the Wicked Witches when they overthrew King Pastoria and they passed it among themselves to confuse other people who may try to search for it as to where it's location is.

"I have an idea!" Mombi said, trembling with excitement. "What?" the others asked eagerly.

"Does Captain Hook know about the existence of the land of Oz outside of Jinxland?"

"No, and neither do most people who live there." Lord Googly Goo said.

"We will trick Captain Hook into helping us! We will tell him that we are inviting the foreign dignitaries who have arrived in our country, and they are to stay with us as guests in my palace, and all of us will be here attending a banquet in honor of the Diggs' family! His reward for helping us will be that we will help him find Rumpelstiltskin! " Mombi laughed.

Lord Googly Goo said, "No, Captain Hook is not stupid. He knows that others are out to kill Rumplestiltskin and become The Dark One, and he would never fall for it. I will just promise him a large sum of money for bringing the Diggs family to us."

"Wait, wait,wait! There's only one problem. Only one person can be the Dark One, because according to this book, the Dark One can only be killed if someone drives his dagger into his heart. Then, that person becomes the Dark One. But, the Dark One is allowed to share his magic with those he wants to, so we can all take part in this powerful magic. I say that we wait until he has been successful in delivering Oscar Diggs to decide how to best proceed with finding Rumpelstiltskin."

"But they already know that we might be looking for him." Hortensia said.

"When we find them, they won't. I have a special potion right here which will make them forget everything!" Lord Googly Goo said as he held up a bottle of clear liquid.

"We can decide who will become the Dark One by having a Wizard's Duel! And the winner stabs Rumpelstiltskin and shares the power with the rest of us!" Schartzmugel said.

"Don't think that I believe for one second that any of us are actually willing to share power!" Mombi snapped.

Her statement put an end to what they hoped would actually be a peaceful battle. It is against a Wicked Witch's nature to be generous with others, even other Wicked Witches.

"But, we can't die!" Gertrude said.

Mombi began having hot and cold flashes because of the anxiety of having to finally reveal the truth to the other wicked witches.

"You cannot die, that is true. But, you can be destroyed." she said.

"What does that mean?" Schartzmugel asked.

"It means that all of us will be at the mercy of the winner. If the winner has mercy on the rest of us, they can decide to put their opponents back together. But, if she doesn't, it will be the end of them even though they are still alive."

"Can I be a part of this duel?" Blinkie asked.

"Most certainly. All of you can, if you mortals are willing to risk your life, since you two can actually die."

"I think that I'd rather not participate. I am perfectly happy ruling Ozcot." Francis said.

Mombi said, "Alright, here's how the next two weeks will go. First, Googly Goo will kidnap the Diggs family and bring them to us. We will have a banquet in their honor, and as soon as Hook and Googly Goo leave, we will each take them as prisoners in our own palaces. Treat them as if it is your last two weeks of fun because we will have the Wizard's Duel, and none of us knows if they will survive it."

Hortensia siad, "Wait, before we all decide to destroy each other, let's have Lord Googly Goo prove to us that he is telling the truth about Captain Hook and his ship! Bring that book with you and prove to us that Captain Hook is the key to finding the Dark One!"

Mombi said, " Good idea Hortensia! Let me review the Witches Duel Rules one more time. Rule number one, no cheating. Rule number 2: No disappearing. Rule number 3, you can't transform yourselves into pink dragons and stuff."

She asked, "Lord Googly Goo, when do you think that you can have Oscar Diggs and his family here?"

"Tomorrow night at the earliest. I have to go to Jinxland, persuade Captain Hook to bring Oscar Diggs and his family to us, sail the Jolly Rodger to wherever they are at the time, pick them up, and bring them here. I will use the Book of Oz to track them."

"Wait a minute! what will happen to the Diggs family if the wicked witches who are keeping them prisoner are destroyed?" Blinkie asked.

Mombi replied, "Whoever wins the duel, will get the book of Oz. The Book should tell us where each witch has hidden the prisoners in her castle! The winning witch would go get them out of their opponent's castle."

That evening, Lord Googly Goo, Francis, and all of the Witches returned to their respective countries, and prepared for receiving the Diggs family at Mombi's castle the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

Meanwhile in the Confectionary Forest:

Oscar, Elsie, and Jenny finished eating their supper. "Now, it is approaching nightfall. Where would you like to stay for the night? Would you like to stay here in the Forest, or would you like to go to the nearby Gillikin Villiage?I'm sure that the people would be thrilled to have you stay with them, once I tell them that I believe that you are the future King of Oz." Ringo said

"I would love to go to the village, but the Gillikin people ran into their homes when they saw us flying overhead." Oscar replied.

"Oh, they are terrified of Mombi, but there is a village nearby that she never visits. I don't think that the people there will be frightened of you. I think you will be very safe there."

The Diggs family and Ringo walked into the regular forest. They walked for about half an hour before they came to a cluster of about 50 purple houses. Ringo walked up to one of the houses and knocked on the door. An elderly, cheerful looking woman wearing a long purple dress answered the door. A very distinguished looking elderly gentlemen who was wearing a purple suit and top hat was standing behind her.

Ringo said, "Mrs. Gump, this is my new friend Oscar Diggs. We have reason to believe that he is the next King of Oz. "

"I know! the Blue Jays told our whole village that he arrived here in some kind of flying machine that is run on hot air!"

"That's my hot air balloon." Oscar said.

"Sir, you are more than welcome to stay in our house for the night if you need somewhere to stay while you are in Oz! Come on in!" the elderly man said

"Thank you sir! My family and I greatly appreciate your hospitality." The Diggs Family and Ringo stepped inside. A fire was burning brightly in the fireplace, making the room look very inviting."

"Would you like some tea?" Mrs. Gump asked.

"Yes!" Elsie pipled.

"Yes, thank you!" Jenny said.

"You know, you are very lucky to have landed in this valley. There are many strange hidden places in Gillikin Country which are unknown to the outside world, and I think that this valley is one of them. I do not believe any of the people in our village have ever seen the witch. We live our lives as we have since the days when Pastoria was king."

In Mombi's castle:

Mombi seethed with anger as she gazed upon the happy village in her crystal ball. She had never seen the valley before, and, as mrs. Gump had said, there were still many valleys of Gillikin country whose inhabitants were unknown outside them. She made a point to punish the people who lived there severely for not submitting to her rule after she captured the Diggs family.

Then, a wonderful idea struck her. "Googly Goo! I have an idea!" she yelled. Lord Googly Goo's face appeared in the crystal ball. "What is it miss?" he asked.

"What was that liquid that you showed me that you said could erase people's memories?"

"I cannot tell you. Why?"

"If I fly to where Oscar Diggs and his family are staying tonight, and pour the liquid in his mouth as he is sleeping, will that make him forget everything that the Oz people have told him about us?"

"Mombi, as I have always said, you are a genius! Send a sleeping fog over the entire village so that the inhabitants can't wake while you are there, pour the liquid into everyone's mouths, and while they are sleeping, tell them that you, Schartzmugel, Hortensia, and Gertrude are the kind Queens of Oz! Come fly to my palace in Jinxland and I will give you the elixir."

In the Gillikin Village:

"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mabel and this is my husband Beauford." The elderly woman said to Oscar. "I have been told that you are a great wizard!"

_Not this again._ Oscar thought. "I have to be honest with everyone. I am nothing more than a circus magician, and am not really a powerful wizard who is adept at killing evil witches. "

"Oh, but many of us will be willing to help you! Besides, who said anything about killing her, considering that the Wicked Witches are immortal." Beauford said.

All were silent for a moment. "Mr. Gump, can I say something to you?" Oscar said.

"Yes." Mr. Gump said.

"I, and my family are newcomers to this country. We know nothing about either your people or these women who you all say are witches. I apologize, but I think that it would only be fair to the women if I stayed here and actually got to know what living with them as rulers is like. How do I know that they are not good and everyone else being justly punished for evil doings?"

Mr. Gump thought for a moment. "Good point. You don't know them or the people of Oz at all. But, I believe that within a week's time, you will find out how right we are about the women who rule over us."

"How is it that the women can't die?"

"No one knows except the witches themselves. Mombi is the oldest, but somehow, she looks many years younger than the others. Perhaps if there was such as an immortal good witch or wizard, they would be able to tell us why witches don't die, and would be of good use to freeing the people of Oz. " Beauford said.

"Now that you know pretty much everything about our country, please tell us about America!" Mabel said cheerfully.

Oscar said, "Well, I was born in Omaha, Nebraska and my father was a politician. He wanted me to go into politics, but I wanted to join the circus, so when I was 18, I joined a circus called Bailum and Barney's Great Consolidated Shows. I met my wife here Jenny there."

Jenny said, "I am from the town of Black River Falls Kansas, and I grew up there. My father was a schoolteacher and my mother taught piano lessons."

"What is a politician?"Mabel asked.

At that moment, Oscar really began to wish that he had never told the people that he had some experience in politics. "Well, it's similar to a sort of ruler. They make laws for the country."

Mabel's eyes grew big, "So, you mean, that he was a king."

"No, he was a state representative. But, he helped make laws for the state of Nebraska."

Beauford said, "Then, you can help us make laws once the Wicked Witches are gone!"

"Yes, I might be able to help. But please, tell me what prompted the women to overthrow the king? Back where I am from, people migrated to my country from a country called Britain because they wanted religious freedom. Then, in 1765, the British government began taxing them unfairly and the colonists became angry and separated from Britain. So I just want to know what happened here in Oz?"

"Many years ago, everyone was allowed to practice magic in Oz. But, too many people began to practice bad magic which either harmed or killed other people, and helped them disobey the laws of our country in other ways. Dark magic is terribly powerful. Then, King Pastoria made a law forbidding the practice of magic, and the four most Wicked Witches leagued together to overthrow him. And now, all those who were at one time loyal to the King Pastoria are their slaves. " Beauford said.

"In my country, we believe that all forms of magic and witchcraft are bad." Oscar said.

Beauford's eyes widened, "Oh, but don't think that all of the magical creatures and magical things in Oz are bad! Human beings practicing magic is bad only because most people cannot be trusted with such talents! Fairies are born with magic, and they lived here in Oz before the Witches came. Some even married men. Their descendants have tried to overthrow the Wicked Witches, but none have been successful because their good magic isn't very powerful against the evil magic. "

Mabel said, "Tomorrow, Beauford and I will introduce you to the people who live in this village. They will be so excited to meet you."

Oscar said, "Another thing. Do you know where I can buy fuel for a hot air balloon."

"DADDY!" Elsie yelled with frustration. She did not want her father to try to abandon the people of Oz when they so obviously needed him.

Jenny glared daggers at him. "Oscar, can't we worry about that some other time?"  
"Oh, alright!" Oscar sighed.

Before nightfall, Mombi flew her broomstick to Lord Googly Goo's castle. He gave her the elixir, then she flew back to the Gillikin Village. By the time she arrived there, it was past midnight, and all of the villagers were asleep. Trembling with excitement at the thought of the nasty deed that she was about to commit, she took a jewel out of a drawstring bag which she had bought several of these jewels from King Roquat of the Nomes several years ago, and they had always come in handy in times such as this. She quickly put a gas mask of sorts over her mouth and goggles over her eyes to prevent herself from inhaling the sleeping gas.

She placed a stone slab on the ground, then placed the jewel on top of it. She took out a match, and lit the little jewel on fire. When it began to glow, she stepped backwards, away from it. It exploded, and red smoke filled the air surrounding the village. When the smoke dissipated, she walked right up to Mr. and Mrs. Gump's house. Much to her distress, all of the windows were closed. She took a needle out of her bag which she had brought with her in case she needed to pick a lock open.

Mombi placed the needle in the lock to the Gump's front door, and much to her happiness, the door burst open. She walked inside and walked right into the guest bedroom where Elsie was sleeping. She knew that the gas had made the villagers fall into a deep sleep which they could not wake from for at least 9 hours, so she did not tip toe and sneak around to avoid being caught.

She opened Elsie's mouth and poured the elixir inside. Mombi knelt down beside her and whispered into the little girl's right ear, "You are Elsie Diggs and you are the Princess of America. You have come here to visit the four Queens of Oz and you are staying the night here in the Gillikin Village because you got lost looking for Queen Mombi's castle and needed a place to sleep for the night. You are waiting for Captain Hook to come searching for you, your mother, and your father. Your father's name is Oscar Diggs, and your mother's name is Jenny Diggs."

She did the same to Oscar and Jenny, pouring the liquid into their mouths and erasing all knowledge of the Wicked Witches, and their real memories of their former lives in the United States, out of their minds. To the other people of the village, she simply poured the liquid into their mouths and convinced them that the Diggs' family was really the Royal Family of America, and they were to be guests at the palace of the Good Queen Mombi.

After all of her work was accomplished, she flew back to her castle, and eagerly awaited the arrival of her prisoners the next day.


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you sure that he will consent to working with us?" Blinkie asked as she and Googly Goo landed at Googly Goo's house.

"I am going to offer him 10 pounds of jewels, and if he doesn't consent, he's crazy to refuse that much money." Lord Googly Goo replied. He walked into his house and stuffed a bag full of jewels. Then, he put the Book of Oz in another bag and stuffed the bag full of other things to cover it up.

The two walked towards the harbor. They saw the Captain and his first mate Smee washing the Jolly Roger. "Captain Hook, may I have a word with you?"

"Sure Gunther! What is it?" the captain called to Lord Googly Goo.

Lord Googly Goo flushed pink. Gunther Googly Goo was his full name. He did not consider it appropriate for a pirate or peasant to call a person of title by their first name, but Captain Hook insisted that where he was from, everyone called the queen of his country by her first name, which was Regina.

"I wish for you to take us abord your ship. My friend Queen Mombi of Oz invited the King and Queen of a far away country called America to visit her in her castle, and they are lost. They flew to Oz in a strange flying contraption and crashed near a Gillikin village. The mountains around it are too dangerous to climb, but there is a river there. I would like for you to take me and my friend Blinkie here abord the Jolly Roger, and sail to the village so that we can pick them up and take them to Queen Mombi's castle." Lord Googly Goo said.

"How come they can't walk there?" Captain Hook asked.

"They can't walk through the dangerous terrain of the mountains. The valley they are staying in can only be accessed by air and boat."

"Can I come on board your ship and show you what I am planning to offer you if you do this for me?" Googly Goo asked.

"Sure." Captain Hook said.

Lord Googly Goo walked on board Captain Hook's ship. He opened his bag, and when the Captain saw the jewels, his eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Wow mate, where'd ya get those?" he asked.

"I bought them." Lord Googly Goo lied. He had really stolen them from King Roquat of the Nomes, just as everyone in Oz did when they wanted jewels, but he lied to Captain Hook for fear that the Captain wouldn't cooperate if he found out the jewels were stolen.

"You can have all of them for helping us find the King of America and take him to his destination." Lord Googly Goo said.

A swarthy, greedy looking smile came over Captain Hook's face. "I accept!" he said.


	6. Chapter 6

Elsie woke up the next morning.


	7. Chapter 7

But, unbeknownst to Mombi, the strange liquid had a rather strange effect that neither she nor Lord Googly Goo could be prepared for.

The next morning, Elsie woke up, and was completely disgusted at the sight of the tiny room and straw bed that she was sleeping on. "UGH! DADDY!" she screamed.

A very weary looking Oscar Diggs hobbled into the room. "Yes sweetie?" he asked. A very angry Elsie snapped, "Daddy! When can we get out of these...slave quarters?"

Mr. Gump came stumbling into the room holding a tray with a cup of tea and a bowl of porridge. "Here is your breakfast, miss." He stammered nervously as he bent down with the tray.

"EEWW! You don't expect for me to eat that garbage, do you?" She hollered as she knocked the tray out of his hands, sending contents of the bowl of porridge flying all over the room. The bowl itself shattered into about 20 pieces when it hit the stone floor. "I'm sorry miss! It's the best that my wife and I could do!" Mr. Gump mumbled.

"It's not 'miss'! It's YOUR HIGHNESS!" she spat.

"Your highness! Your highness!" Mr. Gump whimpered as he nervously tried to clean the porridge.

"Father, when's our messenger coming to get us out of this dung heap of a town? I'm sure that the Queen is looking for us. " Elsie growled as she folded her arms in disgust.

"I don't know sweetheart." Oscar said.

"Old woman, get me my clothes for today!" Elsie barked at Mrs. Gump. "I'm sorry your highness, but the only clothes you had with you were the ones that you are wearing." Mrs. Gump replied. "THEN GET ME SOME! BRING THE TOWN TAILOR HERE AND HAVE HIM MAKE ME AN OUTFIT!"

"Perhaps one of the townspeople would be willing to give you a dress."

Elsie's eyes grew wide with fury. "I am the Princess of America! I don't wear old hand me down clothes! Woman, how dare you insult me in such a fashion!" she bellowed.

Meanwhile, Mombi was watching all of these events in her crystal ball. She burned with fury when she saw that the previously sweet Elsie Diggs had been transformed into a terrible monster of a little girl after having ingested the potion that Lord Googly Goo had given her.

_How am I supposed to keep that monster for my prisoner?! He told me that the potion only made people loose their memories, not change them into monsters! _she thought.

"GUNTHER!" she shouted into the globe, in hopes that Lord Googly Goo would answer her, but she remembered that he was away with Captain Hook that morning, and not near his crystal ball. Nevertheless, she was really going to make him feel her wrath when he arrived with the Diggs family.


	8. Chapter 8

"But, we don't have a tailor in this town, your highness!" Mr. Gump said.

"You...don't have tailors?! Don't you know, that when a princess arrives in your town, you have cooks, servants, slaves, tailors, and BUTLERS prepared for her arrival? " Elsie shrieked.

"I'm sorry, but we are simple folk, and we don't have anything like that in this town."

Mrs. Gump turned red with fury."It ain't our fault that you got lost on your way to the Queen's castle, so stop being such a spoiled brat and make yourself something to wear!" she yelled.

Elsie's mouth gaped in horror at the woman's defiance of royalty.

"How dare you insult me in such a fashion you serf!" she yelled.

"ELSIE! Enough!" Jenny said.

"Elsie?! I hate that name! It sounds like the name of a COW!" Elsie growled.

"Would you rather call you by your middle name, Walltrout?" Jenny asked, her eyes growing as wide as saucers.

"No, That's even uglier!"

(NOTE: Her parents had named her Walltrout in honor of Jenny's grandmother, who's name was Walltrout).

"Then, you will be called by your first name, Elsie!" Jenny said.

_I can't put up with this brat!_ Mombi thought as she stared into the globe, in total amazement at the terrible result that the potion had on the little girl.  
"TIM! TIM!" she bellowed. A young Gillikin man, who appeared to be around 18 years old, ran into the room. "Yes, ma'am?" He asked.

"Get me some parchment and ink!" Mombi growled. The boy scurried out of the room and returned with a piece of parchment, a feather pen, and an inkwell.

"Is everything alright miss?" Tim asked.

"No!" Mombi snapped. "Go down to the garden and tell one of the birds that I need a letter delivered to Lord Googly Goo!"

"Yes ma'am. I'll do that." He said as he bowed. He turned and ran out of the room.

"OOHHHH!" Mombi growled as she sat down at her workbench. She composed a very long, angry letter, full of expletives, detailing what had happened to Elsie, cursing Lord Googly Goo, demanding for him to tell her what exactly the name of the potion was, and how it was made.


	9. Chapter 9

A blue jay flew to the window of Mombi's workroom. She sealed the letter and handed it to the bird. She growled, "Take this letter to Lord Googly Goo! At this moment, he and Captain Hook are sailing on a ship called the Jolly Rodger through the Jinxland River, towards the Candy forest! Oh, and I request his response immediately!"

The blue jay took the letter in it's beak, and flew off to find the pirate ship.

Lord Googly Goo was standing on the deck of the Jolly Rodger. The blue jay flew up to him. "It's a letter from Mombi, and she didn't sound to happy to be sending it too you!" the jay said.

"Thank you!" Lord Googly Goo said.

He took the letter and walked down into the cargo hold of the ship. He opened the letter, and felt himself grow faint as he read it.

_Oh my goodness!_ He thought as he read the details of how Elsie had been transformed into a terrible brat. He pulled a wand out of his bag, opened the History Book of Oz and said, "Elsie and Mombi"

The pages flew to the event the night before when Mombi had given Elsie the potion. The words, "Mombi gives Elsie Diggs the water from the Fountain of Oblivion, and the little girl forgets her sweet innocent self. She forgotten all of her manners and kind treatment of others. Mombi places the idea of being a princess from America into her head, and since she has forgotten her former self, turns into a huge brat."

Lord Googly Goo walked out to the deck of the ship. "Captain, do you have any parchment, a quill, and ink?" he asked Captain Hook.

"Yeah, in me captain's quarters over there!I'll show ye!" he said as he pointed towards a set of stairs. He and Lord Googly Goo descended the stairs, and emerged in a room that consisted of a harpsichord, a globe, and a desk which was covered with treasure maps. "Here ya go!" Captain Hook said as he pointed at an inkwell and a pen which were sitting on the desk amongst all the clutter.


	10. Chapter 10

Lord Googly Goo sat down and began scrawling a letter to Mombi on a piece of parchment. He trembled and sweated profusely as he tried to best word what he wanted to say to her. He was incredibly nervous about what Mombi would try to do to him if he told her that he could not tame the little girl's attitude, since she had forgotten who she was.

It read,

Mombi,

This is Lord Googly Goo. The liquid is water from the Fountain of Oblivion, which is located in the Emerald City. Drinking the water makes people forget everything, and I apologize for what happened to the girl. I will attempt to correct the problemas soon as I arrive at the Gillikin Village, but I cannot promise anything.

Sincerely,

Lord Googly Goo

Lord Googly Goo heard Captain Hook's footsteps coming down the staircase. He stashed the Book of Oz away in his bag and stuffed a blanket inside to hide it. Captain Hook stopped at the foot of the staircase and eyed Lord Googly Goo suspiciously. He then walked back up the staircase. Lord Googly Goo breathed a sigh of relief that the Captain had not been able to see the Book of Oz. He sealed the letter with candle wax and walked up the staircase.

Captain Hook walked up to him. "Hey, what are you hiding?" Captain Hook asked. Lord Googly Goo asked, "What do you mean?"

"I think you are hiding something from me."

"No, she is just asking me if we had found the Royal Family of America yet." Lord Googly Goo lied. The captain scowled at him suspiciously.

"I came down there to get a map of this place, and I heard something that sounded like you were hurriedly putting something away that you didn't want me to see."

Lord Googly Goo knew that the Captain was not stupid enough to believe him for very long, and he desperately hoped that the trip would end soon.


	11. Chapter 11

The Jolly Rodger rounded a bend in the river, and Lord Googly Goo was glad to see the Confectionary Forest in the distance. That meant that they were nearing the Gillikin Village where the Diggs family was currently staying. A few minutes later, they sailed to the harbor of the village. One of the townspeople was standing on one of the docks. "Oh Lord Googly Goo! Thank goodness you're here! The princess is quite the little brat!" the woman said. "What is your name good lady?" Lord Googly Goo asked.

"My name is Elenor Gump. She's been staying with my husband and I since last night, and she is such a pain in the neck!" Elenor Gump said.

Captain Hook and Googly Goo stepped out ont the dock. "What's wrong with 'er miss?" Captain Hook asked.

"NOTHING! She't just been a really spoiled little princess her entire life!"

"Well, if she misbehaves on my ship, I'll make 'er walk the plank!" Captain hook said.

"You wouldn't!"

"YES I WOULD!" Captain Hook snarled.

Mrs. Gump led them to her cottage, and the three walked through the front door. "Lord Googly Goo is here!" Elenor called. "OH THANK GOODNESS!" Elsie snapped. She ran to the front door, but scowled at them when she saw Captain Hook's hand. "I'm not getting on a ship with a man who has a hook for a hand!" she sneered.

Lord Googly Goo flushed red with fury. "You are going to get on my ship or else!" he snarled. "Now, no need to snarl!" Oscar said. He bent down and said, "Now Elsie, if you behave from now until we are finished visiting Mombi, I will buy you five new horses when we get back home!"  
Elsie's face lit up with happiness for the first time since she had fallen asleep the night before. "You will?!" she gasped. Oscar smiled and said, "Yes! I will buy you five new white horses!"

Captain Hook's mouth hung open, agahast at how Oscar was handeling Elsie's bratty behavior. He whispered to Lord Googly Goo, "Back where I'm from, parents ground their children for a month for acting like her."  
Lord Googly Goo rolled his eyes."Oz parents do to, but I guess American Royalty doesn't punish their children."


	12. Chapter 12

The strangest thing happened to Elsie after Oscar offered her the ponies. Although she didn't have her memories, she seemed to revert somewhat back to her usual sweet self. As they were sailing through the valley, Elsie admired all the lovely scenery. Then, on the top of a mountain, she saw a gorgeous white castle. "That's where we are going." Lord Googly Goo said as he pointed at the castle.

"It's beautiful!" Elsie commented.

Lord Googly Goo quickly disappeared into the cargo hold of the ship. He reappeared a few minutes.

The boat pulled up to the edge of the river, and the Diggs family, Lord Googly Goo, and Captain hook stepped out onto the green grass. "Now, how are we going to get way up there?!" Elsie asked.

"We are taking the staircase that goes through the mountain." Lord Googly Goo said. He took them through a little door which was hidden in the side of the mountain. Much to everyone's surprise, the staircase was well lit with flaming torches that were hanging on the wall.

They began to ascend the staircase. "How high do we have to climb?" Elsie asked Lord Googly Goo. "The castle is on a rock ledge that is 1,000 feet up the side of the mountain." Lord Googly Goo replied.

By the time they reached the top of the staircase, Elsie's legs were so tired that she could barely move them. She was extremely thankful when Lord Googly Goo stopped at a door at the top of the staircase. He opened the door, and all of them walked out into a beautiful courtyard. A high wall surrounded the courtyard, so Elsie could not see how high off the ground they were.

Then Elsie saw something that made her nervous. Guards lined the walkway and stood next to the front door of the castle. As they walked in between the lines of guards, she noticed that each one of them had a look of extreme fear in their eyes, like that of a frightened animal. They did not appear to be at all proud to serve their Queen.

"Daddy, why do the guards all look frightened?" Elsie asked.

"You know why we are here." Oscar mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Elsie asked, confused.

"Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut!" Jenny growled.

Elsie was totally confused by her parents reaction to her question.

"But, Mombi's a friend to everyone!" she said.

"Elsie!" Oscar growled.

They ascended a massive marble staircase, and the two guards who were standing beside the doors opened the massive set of cedar doors. Elsie gasped at the opulence of the marble hall. Lord googly goo led them down the hall. Suddenly, he stopped and said, "This is the Throne Room". He turned to his left, walked forward, and a part of the wall slid open, revealing a vast hall. The floor, ceiling, columns, and walls were all plated with mirrors, and there was a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

The beautiful Queen Mombi sat on her throne at the opposite end of the room.


	13. Chapter 13

Oscar removed his hat upon seeing the lovely Queen Mombi sitting at the other end of the room. "My lady, it is so good to see you!" He bowed low. Captain hook grinned at her and said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you your highness." He bowed very low to the ground. Mombi smiled and said, "The pleasure is all mine!" Elsie thought that she saw the woman turn pink at the sight of the handsome Captain.  
"Lunch is served in the great hall."


	14. Chapter 14

They followed mombi into a room. The walls were all made of glass and overlooked the valley below. A large wooden rectangular table sat in the center of the room. Four grotesque looking women were standing around the table. Elsie would have mistaken them all for old hags had she not known that they were in fact, the four Queens of Oz.

"Welcome King Oscar, Queen Jenny, and Princess Elsie!" they said as they bowed. Something about the smiles on their faces as they did this terrified Elsie.

"Please sit down!" Mombi said as she gestured towards the long table. Oscar and Jenny sat down, followed by everyone else. Mombi sat next to the handsome Captain Hook. Elsie thought that her father appeared to be very nervous about something. Several servants walked into the room carrying huge platters full of food. They placed them on the table, and everyone began to fill their plates with food.

"Mombi, I must tell you the real reason why I have come all the way from America." Oscar said.

"And what is that?" Mombi asked.

"Can I spoon yer food up for ye, love?" Captain Hook asked Mombi. "Oh, why yes!" Mombi replied with a huge smile on her face.

"Well, my general has informed me that a witch named Glinda the Good is plotting an uprising against you."

All of the witches paused and stared around at each other.

Mombi blinked and asked, "Who is Glinda?"

"A very powerful witch in my country. She is the most powerful witch in the entire world, and she is recruiting an army of women to try to overthrow you."

"Well, this is all news to us!" the Wicked Witch of the West said.

Mombi's face turned white. "Lord Googly- Goo, may I have a word with you?"

"Yes!" Googly Goo said. The two walked out of the hall. "In my office?" Mombi growled angrily. "Why yes." Googly-Goo said. The two of them walked through a secret door in the hall of mirrors. They ascended a winding staircase, which led directly to Mombi's potion room.

"Who is Glinda?!" she sneered at Googly-Goo. "I have no idea! She probably isn't anyone who you need to worry about." Googly-Goo said.

She stomped up to her crystal ball and said, "Show me Glinda the Good!" Nothing appeared in the crystal ball.  
Mombi growled in frustration. "I watched him in the crystal ball the entire time from the time I arrived back at the castle after I erased his memory until he arrived here, and neither he nor the Gillikin people mentioned anyone named Glinda. Are you sure that the potion you gave me doesn't cause people to hallucinate or something?" Mombi asked.

"I am 100 percent sure."


	15. Chapter 15

"Give me your History book!" Mombi growled.

Lord Googly Goo pulled the Book of Oz out of his bag. Mombi placed it on her workbench waved the wand over it, and said, "Show me Glinda!"

Nothing happened. "There, see? There is nothing to be worried about!" Lord Googly Goo said. Mombi, however, was not at all convinced. "Are you ...sure that it doesn't cause people to see things?" she asked again.

"It shouldn't, but I don't know what kind of effect it has on people who aren't from the land of Oz. Maybe, it does cause people to hallucinate."

The young man servant walked into the room. "Yes, Tim?" Mombi asked. "Mombi, you are needed downstairs immediately!" he stammered.

Mombi and Lord Googly Goo walked into the dining room. The other witches were eyeing him fearfully. "He's goin' on an on about how Ginda might attack Oz!" Hortensia shrieked.

"I think you should secure the four edges of the country with guards."

"Did this..Glinda... forget that nothing can cross over the Deadly Desert and survive?" Mombi asked sarcastically.

"What if she gets here in a flying machine like Oscar did?" Schartzmugel asked.

"She...will. And, she's coming with an army of women who ride on the backs of flying unicorns!"

The witches all stared around at each other in fear.

But meanwhile, in Quadling Country, someone was watching all of them and her sides were aching with laughter.

A young lady named Glinda was watching all the events in Mombi's castle with great interest. She was only about 18, had long red hair, and was extremely beautiful. Glinda was an apprentice witch, living with her grandmother, Violet the Good Witch, learning good magical arts.

She had bought an ugly painting from a yard sale that one of the Quadling slaves had because she needed to try a new spell that her grandmother, Violet the Good Witch, had taught her. She placed the spell on the painting, and it allowed her to see whoever she wished in the Land of Oz.

"Glinda, what is so incredibly funny?" her grandmother asked as she opened the door of her bedroom, and when she did, Glinda made the picture change back to it's original scene, mountains.

"Nothing, grandmother!" Glinda lied.

"You didn't go to Gillikin country last night, did you?"

"Grandmother, I'm sorry, but I had to do something to help Oscar remember who he is so that he could escape from the witches!"

"What do you mean? I know full well what Mombi was planning to do to them, but the Diggs family must prove that they can outsmart the wicked witches. By themselves, with as little help from us as possible."

"But, he wouldn't have even remembered anything about why we think he is here if I hadn't stepped in last night!"

Violet's eyes flared with anger. "What do you mean, 'if I hadn't stepped in'?" she asked.

"She gave him water from the fountain of Oblivion in the Emerald City.I saw what she was planning to do to them in the Magic Picture, and I felt that I needed to go to Gillikin Country, under an Invisibility Spell, and try to help him remember who he is without Mombi knowing."

"Oh, well in THAT case... But what's this I hear about you raising an army of girls? You don't have an army!"

Glinda grinned and said, "That was to make them afraid of me, should we ever meet!"

Violet scolded, "Glinda, you know that whoever is destined to become King of Oz has to prove themselves against the Wicked Witches, without outside help. He may not have any magical powers that we know of, but he does have something that they haven't got...a diploma. I saw a high school class ring on his finger. Mombi and the other witches never went to school. He is probably much smarter than the witches. "

"But, what does knowing how to multiply and divide have to do with overthrowing an evil witch?"

"Nothing, it just proves that he is much smarter than they are. Plus he has another thing that they haven't got...a heart. And so do the other members of his family, as evidenced by the fact that they do care about the situation that the people of Oz are in. "


	16. Chapter 16

"What should we do if they try to kill him?" Glinda asked.

"We will step in then and only then. But until that time comes, they have to discover the power they have within themselves to rule Oz. " Violet said.

"Perhaps, we can come to his aid and help him without our magic powers, and only use our magic when absolutely necessary."

"That might be a good option." Violet agreed.

" What about this Captain Hook fellow? I've been watching this picture for a few days now, and I think we need to keep an eye on him too. They're trying to trick him into leading them to an incredible source of evil power. One that isn't from Oz."

Violet's eyes grew wide with fear. "Go on." she said.

Glinda's face became grave and serious. "Someone who they call 'The Dark One' has entered Oz. One who has terrible, evil magic, and is the most powerful creature on earth. From what I can gather, once someone kills the Dark One, they themselves become The Dark One. This Dark One has been living in Oz for some time now, only a legend and unnoticed by the Ozian people, but once Lord Googly Goo set foot on Captain Hook's ship, all of that changed."

" You mean... the Dark One is actually a real person?" Violet asked, looking very frightened.

"Apparently so."

"Go on." Violet said, looking very interested at Glinda's discovery.

She continued, " Apparently the Dark One wants to be found by the Captain because the Captain took his wife. He killed the lady, and the captain is angry with him. So, since the two want to kill each other, and he wants the Captain find him, his name appears in the Royal History of Oz. It's a book that they stole from King Pastoria when they overthrew him. It records all of the events that have occurred in Oz since the beginning of time, and the Dark One's name only pops up when the book is on Captain Hook's ship."

"What's his name?" Violet asked, her eyes wide with fear.

"His real name is Rumplestiltskin. But don't be so frightened of him as of yet, grandmother. The man who is the local Munchkin legend has lived here for 50 years and hasn't hurt anyone here yet, has he? Not hardly as vicious as the Wicked Witches, I'd say. I'm more frightened of what will happen to the People of Oz once one of the Wicked Witches get hold of such power. They are also holding a Witches Duel against each other in two weeks to determine who will be the one to search for the Dark One."

Violet's eyes grew as wide as saucers."A witches duel?! You mean they are going to try to kill each other!?" she gasped.

"It looks that way. I thought that they were friends." Glinda said.

"Oh Glinda, don't be so silly to believe that Wicked Witches actually like other people, including other Wicked Witches. Is this a public event?!"

"Yes! Plus, they are going to allow anyone to go up against the witch who destroys all the other Wicked Witches, should they so desire. That means that we can go finish the witches off and free the people of Oz!"

Violet closed her eyes, "Oh Glinda, you must remember that killing people, including Wicked Witches, doesn't make a Good Witch any better than a Wicked Witch!" Violet moaned.

Glinda's eyes grew wide with excitement. "But, grandmother, it's our chance that we've been waiting for. Did I say that we had to kill them? We can come up with good spells to try to teach the witches a lesson, rather than killing them!"


	17. Chapter 17

Elsie asked, "Have you ever tried to escape?"

"Oh, numerous times, but Mombi always finds me because of her crystal ball!" Tim moaned. They heard a door open and footsteps coming down a set of stairs. The man who came to get her was very frightening looking and he had many scars on his face. . Elsie's heart pounded with fear as he opened the door and walked inside. He locked the door behind him.

"Now, little girl, Mombi needa ya to scrub the floors in the palace!" he growled as he unlocked the shackles around Elsie's feet, then he handcuffed her to his left wrist, so that she couldn't run away while he was taking her to Mombi.

He dragged her out the door, and locked it behind him. "What are you doing to me?" Elsie whimpered.

"Didn't ya hear me before?! I said, 'I'm takin' ya to Mombi'!" He bellowed.

He drug her up the staircase, down a marble hall and into the throne room. Elsie's fear turned to fury when she caught sight of Mombi at the other end of the room. The man drug her to the side of Mombi's throne.

"Whaddya want me to do yer highness?" The bald man asked, with a grin that revealed all of his rotting teeth. Mombi smiled and said, "You can go now, I can take care of her from here. Thank you very much." Elsie wanted to hit her and knock that disgusting smile clean off her face. The bald man uncuffed her, and Elsie tried to make a run out of the palace. "Stop!" Mombi screamed. Suddenly, Elsie's body body froze up, and she couldn't move. She saw the bald man walk out of the door of the room, giggling at what had happened. Mombi walked in front of her, pointed at her, and yelled, "You will get down on the floor, and you will scrub!" Another strange force pulled her onto the floor.

This was the most terrifying experience of the little girl's life up until this point. She could see that Mombi was making her do all of these things. Mombi dropped a huge wooden bucket with a sponge in it next to her.

"Please, please stop! I promise that I'll scrub the floor!" Elsie whimpered.

Mombi relented, and the girl was free. Elsie began sobbing uncontrollably. She dipped her hand into the bucket, pulled out the sponge, and began scrubbing the floor.


	18. Chapter 19

"Where are my mom and dad?" Elsie asked.

"That is none of your concern!" Mombi said.

"It is too my concern! Where are they?"

Mombi glared at her and said, "They aren't here! That's all I'll tell you!"

Elsie thought better than to anger the witch, and she did not ask any further questions. It took her about 5 hours to clean the floors to Mombi's liking, as Elsie was continuously being made to re do her cleaning job.

Finally, when it was dark outside, Mombi rang her bell again, and the old man came to get her. He handcuffed her to his wrist and the two walked out of the room.

"Ow was workin' for Mombi?" he asked, with a huge grin on his face.

"Terrible!"Elsie spat.

He opened the door to the dungeon, and the two walked inside. "One thing ya learn while here, ya don't anger Mombi! If ya are goin' to plot an escape, ya don' plan it right in front of 'er!"

"Tim said that he has tried to escape numerous times!"

"Escaped numerous times, ha! He only tried to escape twice, and he didn't get over the castle wall before Mombi found him! And he only tried to rescue himself. He didn't try to take the rest of us with 'em!" the old man spat.

"Have you tried to get out?"

"I have, but was unsuccessful! You see all these scars don't you? Some of us here are slaves from Quadling Country, and we built a tunnel here to get away from the Witch of the South. Many of us got away from the Witch of the South, only to fall into the clutches of Mombi, the most powerful witch in Oz!" he growled.

"That's terrible!" Elsie whimpered.

A confused expression came over the man's face. "But, where are you from? And why did she capture you and lock you in her palace?"

"I'm from the United states of America, and my family and I got blown here in a hot air balloon! My father's a circus magician."


	19. Chapter 21

Oscar's story:

Oscar woke up inside a cage, that was being drawn by a horse.

"_This must be some mistake, I'm a guest in Mombi's palace_." he thought. "Excuse me sir, but I'm supposed to be a guest in Queen Mombi's palace." he said.

Then he remembered that he had seen someone place a rag over Elsie's mouth, right before someone placed a rag over his. Whatever the rags were soaked in, had caused them both to pass out.

_Something is very suspicious here._ he thought.

"Keep quiet slave!" the driver growled. "You are my prisoner!" Francis Googly Goo yelled as he rode up beside him. He had an evil looking face, and Oscar was frightened.

"Where are my wife and daughter?" Oscar asked.

"Your wife is a slave in Quadling Country with the Witch of the South, and your daughter is a slave in Gliilkin country with the Witch of the North!"

Oscar saw them ride up to a huge stone wall, which had a large set of wooden doors. The doors swung open, and the party entered a walled city. The streets were crowded, dirty, and the buildings were very run down looking.

"Where are we?" he asked King Francis.

"You are in Ozcot, the capital city of Oz."


	20. Chapter 22

Hi everyone! I am going to be updating in a few days. I am writing out what will happen while the three are split up, and I thought it might get a little confusing if I didn't write out all three of their separate stories from start to finish before posting a new chapter.


	21. Chapter 23

I did not forget this. I have been planning a lot for the rest of it and will begin updating again on Saturday.


	22. Chapter 24

Here it is! My update! In the next several chapters, I am going to be introducing more characters from the Oz novels such as Omby Amby, Princess Langwidere, King Evoldo of Ev, Tik Tok, Nanda, Nick Chopper, Nimmie Aimee, and Captain Fyter.


	23. Chapter 25

"How can you let the people live in such filth?" Oscar wondered aloud.

"The Witches have drained this country of it's financial resources, and as far as I'm concerned, it's not worth angering Roquat of the Rocks to get precious metals." Frank replied.

"Who is Roquat?"

"He lives underground, and from what I have heard, he's even more wicked than Mombi. But, we make an effort to stay out of his way so that he won't bother us."

"Have you ever seen him?"

"No, but I have heard terrifying things about , that once you go down in his dominion, you never return!"

They came to a huge castle at the center of the city. The exterior was very terrifying, and it reminded Oscar of the gothic architecture that he had seen during his circus travels to European countries. Gargoyles sat on nearly every spire.

The cart stopped in front of the castle. The door was opened, and King Frank handcuffed Oscar to his wrist. He led him inside the castle. Unlike Mombi's beautiful white marble castle, the interior of this one was very dark and depressing.

Frank said, "Oh, and you can go anywhere you like in the palace, except for the West Wing."

Oscar asked, "What's in the west-"

"IT'S FORBIDDEN!" Frank bellowed.

Frank said, "You know something? I had better keep you close at hand. You will be my butler."

Oscar asked, " But, what if i don't want to be a butler?"

Frank bellowed, "I'm the King of Oz, and you are my slave! Your job is not about what you want to do, it's about what I want you to do! And, I keep my whip here just in case you try anything stupid!"

He held a black ugly whip up for Oscar to see.

"Now, it's four o'clock, and I'm ready to eat supper." he said calmly.

There was a tall, frail looking man standing in the entryway. "Omby, take this man to the kitcken, and let the cook give him orders. It' four o'clock, and I'm ready for supper."

"Yes sir." he replied. He turned to Oscar and said, "Follow me."

Oscar reluctantly followed the man into the kitchen. Omby asked, "It's not very often that we get a new slave here in Ozcot. Where are you from?"

Oscar replied, "My name is Oscar Diggs, and I am from the United States of America. I am not sure what my former occupation was, because I remember being two people."

"2 people?"

"Well, it's strange. I remember being the king of America, but I also remember being a circus magician."

Omby's eyes grew wide, "A magician?!" He gasped.

"Well, not the kind of magician that the people of Oz seem to have here. I was just a circus magician, and I performed illusions and ventriloquism."

"What does that mean?"

"Well... it's kind of hard to explain them. They were all just tricks."

"That doesn't matter now does it? In Oz, a magician is a magician!" Omby said with a smile.


	24. Chapter 26

They opened the door to the kitchen. A fantastic aroma of smells wafted through the air. People were noisily clanging dishes and pots and pans in the kitchen. "You will wait here until supper is ready, then you will take it to the king." Omby instructed.

Oscar said, "Back where I am from, my father was a politician. He would not have put up with allowing the people of Omaha living in filth."

Omby's eyes grew wide. "Don't say things like that around here. King Frank might have you beheaded or something." he hissed.

"It needed to be said. And, who is this 'Nome King' who lives underground that lives underground?"

"I have no idea. I have never heard of him before."

"The king told me that the witches drained the treasury, and none of them are willing to get precious metals from him because he is so evil."

"There is someone more evil than the Witches? I doubt it. It's an excuse!" Omby giggled.

Just then, a bell rang. "Oh, King Frank is ready for breakfast." he said.

"Are you a slave too?" Oscar asked.

"Of course! Everyone is!" Omby replied.

Oacar reluctantly took the plate of food to the dining hall. He placed the plate in front of the king, who he now hated intensely.

"Where's my water goblet?" Frank growled.

"I didn't know that I had to bring water." Oscar replied.

Frank leapt up and yelled, "CONFOUNDED YOU! Don't you know that you drink with a meal?" He raised his hand to strike Oscar. Omby interrupted, "Master, is this the way that you want to present yourself to the Princess Langwidere tomorrow?"

Frank appeared to relax a little. "Oh no." He said calmly as he sat down. His face turned bright red and he growled, "That's right. I have to think about how I am going to present myself to my betrothed tomorrow, a woman who I have never met."

Omby placed a pitcher and water goblet on the table beside Frank.

"Now, you two are excused." Frank said.

Oscar wondered if any other slaves had ever attempted to escape, but he did not ask. He was going to wait until night to make an escape and try to find Elsie and Jenny.

"What time is bedtime for slaves?" he asked Omby.

"9:00, but tonight, we are working all night to get ready for the Princess' arrival. That is, if Mombi doesn't see her in Gillikin Country and try to kill her first. She's been after King Frank and Lord Googly Goo for the longest time now. " Omby replied. Oscar felt a terrible sinking feeling in his heart that he would not be able to find Elsie and Jenny before the witches did something terrible to them. The slaves worked all night decorating an extravagant ten foot high cake. Oscar was terribly tired when the preparations were finished at 10:00 the next morning.


	25. Chapter 27

Jenny Day 1:

Jenny woke up in the middle of a castle. "Where am I?" she wondered as she looked around. A rancid smell filled the room, and she heard the sound of something boiling. Confused, she looked around, and saw a hideous old woman stirring a huge cauldron. She had long, stringy white hair and was absolutely hideous "Ah! You're awake! Now, I want you to walk to the town of Bunbry and get me some cinnamon rolls!" the old woman snarled.

"But... you, you kidnapped me! Who are you?" Jenny stammered.

"I'm Gertrude, the Wicked Witch of the South, and you are my slave!" the old woman snarled. She flashed a toothy smile, and Jenny could see that what few teeth she had were bright yellow and rotting.

"Where are my husband and daughter?" Jenny asked.

"They are dead!" the witch lied.

Jenny felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach. "Dead? But... how?" she gasped.

"Murdered by a Yookoohoo as the three of you were leaving Mombi's castle! You were the only survivor, so I took you into my care!"

"That- that can't be!"

Jenny had an unshakable suspicion that the woman was lying to her. "Alright. I'll go to Bunbry." she said.

"Now! That's a good girl! Here ya go!" the witch said as she handed Jenny a basket. Jenny ran out of the witch's castle, but unbeknownst to the witch, she had no plans of returning. The Witch, however, kept a close eye on her slaves in Quadling Country, and would know if Jenny ever left.


	26. Chapter 28

"Wait, wait here!" The witch called to Jenny. "You need a map." She handed Jenny a crudely drawn map, which showed her the Road to Bunbury.

The witch said, "Oh, and if the cinnimon rolls are unruly, just lock the lid on the basket."

"Unruly?" Jenny asked. She had a horrible sinking feeling that Bunbury may be like the Candy Forest, in that the baked goods may be living creatures.

She took off in the direction of Bunbury.

She came to a fork in the road. At the fork were two signs.

One sign read, "Take the other road to Bunbury"

The other sign read, "Take the other road to Bunnybury."

So, Jenny followed the direction of the road to Bunbury as indicated on the map. Off in the distance, she heard the sound of very out of tune violin playing. As she rounded a corner, she saw a gypsy cart, and a gypsy woman was playing violin beside it. She was dressed in a long flowing purple skirt and a blowsy shirt, and her hair was covered with a purple scarf with gold coins dangling off it.

"A penny please!" The woman begged Jenny. "I don't have any money." Jenny replied. "Oh, but I have a batch of cinnamon rolls in the oven, if you will just wait a few minutes!" The gypsy woman said.

"No, thank you." Jenny said, eager to get away from her.

"Oh, but if you should change your mind! I have thirty of them baking in the oven!" the gypsy woman said. Jenny continued walking. She was a little bothered by the fact that the lady seemed to know exactly what she had came down that road for. The smell of a bakery wafted through the air, and Jenny knew that she was nearing her destination.

When she arrived, it was exactly as she had feared. She came upon a wide open space, and in it, were some of the oddest looking houses that she had ever seen. All of the houses were made of crackers, had columns of breadsticks, and roofs made of wafer crackers. The people were all made of bread, and of each and every kind of pastry. "Excuse me, can you tell me where to get cinnamon rolls?" Jenny yelled.

Someone yelled, "It's the witch!" and all the baked goods ran into their homes. Jenny didn't have the heart to take living cinnamon rolls, so she decided to go back to the gypsy woman and ask her for her cinnamon rolls.

She approached the cart, and the woman grinned at her. The woman said, "Aah, I knew that you'd be back! Why don't you come into my cart here?" Jenny saw that some of her teeth were missing.

Jenny walked into up the steps into the gypsy cart. "Sit down here!" the lady instructed. Jenny sat down in front of a table. A small crystal ball sat on it.


	27. Chapter 29

Sorry for the delay in updates. I've been working on an original work. You can view it online at story/the-second-hand-spellbook

Jenny had a nagging feeling that the woman somehow knew that she would be needing cinnamon rolls. "How did you know that I would need cinnamon rolls?"

"Madame Artemisia knows everything!" the gypsy said. Now that Jenny was sitting close to the woman, she could see that the 'gaps' in her teeth were really made by teeth blackening makeup, and that she was wearing very good old woman face makeup. Some of her hair fell out from under her scarf, and Jenny could see that it was bright red. The old gypsy was obviously a disguise.

She took Jenny's right hand in hers and began tracing the lines on it. "Erm..." she said, furrowing her brow in confusion. Jenny sat there, perplexed for several seconds as the woman stared confusedly at Jenny's palm.

"No offense ma'am, but I really don't believe in palmistry."Jenny said, retracting her hand.

The gypsy's face lit up. "Oh good, I can't read palms anyway!"she said with audible relief in her voice. Her eyes grew wide. "Oh, but there's one thing I want you do do before you leave me, and give this thing I want you to do a real chance." the gypsy said. "What is it miss?" Jenny said.

The gypsy placed her hands on either side of the crystal ball, palms up. "Take my hands." she said. Jenny took the gypsy's hands in hers. "Look into the crystal, and concentrate on the one thing that you desperately need to see."

Jenny wanted desperately to see what had become of Oscar and Elsie. Suddenly, a bright light was emitted from the crystal, and an image of Oscar in King Frank's castle, preparing King Frank's supper. It was followed by an image of Elsie sitting in a jail cell.

But, Jenny was beyond excited to see that they were not dead. "They really are alive! Oh thank you miss!" Jenny wailed in happiness.

"I have been watching all three of you since the moment you arrived!I could not let that witch tell you that your husband and daughter were dead when they weren't! " the gypsy said.

"Oh please! Come with me and help me find them!" Jenny whimpered. Madame Artemisia replied, "I'm afraid that the safest and best way for you to get to your husband and daughter is if you figure out how to escape from the witch yourself. That's what you have to do since everyone here in Oz believes that you and your husband are to be the King and Queen of you run away now, she will notice that you are gone and will kill you when she finds you, because she also has a crystal ball which can see throughout the land of Oz."

"But you can help me...can you?"

"I will help you, but I cannot help you using magic anymore. I will, however, come and visit you every day."


	28. Chapter 30

Elsie Day 2:

It was the very next day that, unbeknownst to Mombi, an extremely important event was to take place in the land of Oz. T

King Evoldo of Ev and his niece Princess Langwidere, had crossed over the Deadly Desert by means of a magic carpet and had entered into the Gillikin Country.

Langwidere was rumored to be the most beautiful woman in the whole world. She was very sweet, yet so vain that all she wanted to do was sit and admire herself in the mirror all day.

She was extremely excited, yet nervous about this trip to Oz because she was meeting the person who her uncle had betrothed her to when she was born. She was very nervous because her uncle, although he had married the kind Queen Evelyn, was a very dishonest and unkind person, and had a lot of very nasty friends.

She also knew that he was a sorcerer. When Langwidere was young, she wasn't very pretty. Her uncle, in an attempt to win the love of the kind Queen Evelyn, decided to make them all think that he would take pity on the poor princess. He was so desperate for power in the land of Ev that he performed a spell on the princess that was so wicked that he didn't even exchange it with Mombi on his numerous trips to Oz to exchange magic spells with her.

He created 30 beautiful heads, each to Langwidere's own specifications of beauty, and also granted her the ability to remove her own head and use the others interchangeably.

Unbeknownst to the princess, this was very dark magic, and all magic comes with a price.

Head number 17 had a terrible temper, lacked a conscience, and often did terrible things that she was sorry for when she took it off.

She also locked her own head in a cabinet for 5 years. When she was 23, exactly 5 years after the spell was performed, she unlocked the cabinet, and much to her pleasant surprise, discovered that her own head had transformed into the most beautiful of her whole collection.

Langwidere was blissfully unaware that her uncle was friends with four of the most evil women in the entire world, and that the four of them ruled Oz along with Francis. She thought that it was only ruled by him.

On this trip, she was wearing Head #4, a lovely pale faced head with baby blue eyes and long curly blond hair. With her, she carried Head #31, which was her original head, and Head #17. She brought #17 along in case either someone attacked their carriage or she found Francis disagreeable. Head #17 would give them a 'piece of her mind', and #31 would act intelligently, so she brought them both along.


	29. Chapter 31

It was 7 am when the carriage crossed over the deadly desert and into the land of oz. With Langwidere was her best friend and servant Nanda, and a strange copper mechanical man who her uncle had just purchased from the firm of Smith and Tinker. His name was Tik-Tok, and her uncle named him that because when he was wound up, he would tick like a clock.

Mombi looked on the processional with much interest at her friend's surprise visit. Tim and Elsie were in her potions room with her sweeping the floor. Inside the carriage, she heard two women laughing and giggling, and they said something that infuriated her greatly.

"Oh Langwidere, just think of it! 4 more hours until we meet your betrothed King Francis! I do hope that he has a handsome servant for me!" one woman laughed.

_Evoldo's niece is engaged to King Frank?!_ Mombi thought. Now, as you can imagine, she was very angry by the fact that the 'Great Oz' had arrived in Oz, and a foreign princess had come to marry one of the men that she had a crush on. Mombi had to decide which was of utmost importance to worry about at the moment, which was the princess' arrival in Oz. Since Evoldo was a friend of hers, she decided to ask him what his business was there with the princess.

"Who does he think he is?" Mombi snapped before she took off on her broomstick. "You..you are going there peacfully, right?" Tim stammered.

"That is none of your concern! Your only concern right now is to clean the cauldron!"

She took off on her broomstick. "Tim! we have to do something! What if she tries to hurt the princess?" Elsie hissed.

"What's there to do?" Tim lamented.

Elsie ran over to the balcony. "Bees! Oh, Bees!" Elsie yelled. Tim, having never been outside Mombi's castle, didn't know that animals could talk. He was quite surprised when a massive, buzzing grey cloud formed before the balcony.

"The princess of Ev is here in Oz, and Mombi is probably going to try to hurt her! Go to the party from Ev, surround them, and pretend to sting until they go back to their country!" Elsie said to the cloud. The cloud of bees headed in the direction of the King of Ev's caravan.

"Did you just talk to bees?" Tim asked. "Yes! Well, you weren't going to do anything!" Elsie grumbled. They looked in the crystal ball and watched the cloud of bees descend on the caravan from Ev.


	30. Chapter 32

Langwidere heard a terrible humming sound outside the carriage. She pulled back the curtain, and to her horror, saw a huge grey cloud descend upon the caravan. It threw everyone into a panic. "Bees!" People screamed. Someone kindly unhitched the horses from Langwidere's carriage before they became spooked and ran away.

People asked each other, "Did you get stung?" and others would answer, "No, did you?"

To Langwidere's even more terrified horror, she saw a woman descend from the sky on a broomstick. She knew that many of her uncle's cruel friends flew on broomsticks. The bees suddenly flew away and the horses returned. The woman landed in the middle of the caravan. "M-Mombi!" Evoldo stammered.

"I do wish to meet the young princess whom you have failed to introduce me to!"The woman said with feigned politeness. Langwidere's heart began pounding furiously.

"And, I saw in my crystal ball that she is marrying King Frank?" Mombi asked.

"Ye-yes" Evoldo stammered.

"May I meet her?" Mombi scowled.

Evoldo opened the door of the carriage, and Langwidere stepped out. Mombi stuck her hand out, and Langwidere felt a pair of invisible hands grip her neck and attempt to strangle her. Head #5 suddenly popped off and rolled under the carriage.

"What?!" Mombi shrieked in amazement.

"I promise that I will teach you the trick next time you come to Ev."

"Invisibilitis!" the sorcerer shouted, and suddenly, the caravan became invisible to Mombi. "Where did you go! Oh Evoldo! I will get you for this!" Mombi yelled before flying off on her broomstick.

Evoldo helped the headless princess back into the carriage. Nanda crawled under the carriage, picked up Head #5, wiped the dirt off, and handed it to the Princess Langwidere, who screwed it back on her body. She slammed the door and the processional continued.

"Are you al-right your high-ness?" Tik-Tok asked

"No! I'm not! Didn't you see her try to kill me!" the princess sobbed.

"I am ter-ri-bly sor-ry your high-ness, but I could not see out-side the car-ri-age."

"Ugh! That's it! I am putting Head #17 on. It was a brunette head with dark eyes and white skin.

She could immediately fell the head's horrible temper rising up inside her. She opened the sun roof and crawled out. "Langwidere!" Nanda hissed.

"Uncle, who was that?" she bellowed. "Queen Mombi of Gillikin Country!" Evoldo called back. "And is that how she plans on addressing her queen, by trying to kill her for marrying the king?"

Now, if Langwidere had been wearing Head #31, she would have remembered that Pastoria, the previous king of Oz, had been captured by a witch named Mombi.

"I'll cut off her head!" she hollered. "Langwidere!" Nanda shouted. She pulled #17 off her friend and placed #5 on. Langwidere sank back into the carriage. "I'm sorry, but I had to do that. If I had allowed you to keep #17 on, you would have done something really stupid."

Langwidere sighed, "Really, I do hope that Francis is a kind man."

The caravan continued on to Ozcot, and she had a looming suspicion that Frank wasn't going to be the husband that she had hoped for.


	31. Chapter 33

As Mombi was flying back to her castle, she immediately began to wonder what had caused the bees to swarm around the carriages. She did not believe that the bees of Oz would sting unsuspecting travelers, but since Evoldo had rendered the party invisible, she could not ask him if he had disturbed a hive somewhere.

Nontheless, Elsie felt proud of herself for trying to protect the princess. And, she had seen so many odd things in Oz, that the princess' ability to pop her head off and put it back on did not disturb her in the least bit.

Oscar Day 2:

At 11:00 the next morning, the trumpets blasted, signaling Princess Langwidere's arrival in Ozcot. Oscar and the other slaves awaited her outside the castle for her carriages. Soon, all the carriages from Ev pulled up and stopped in front of the castle. A butler approached the door to one of the carriages. He opened the door. "This place is absolutely a pigsty! How do you expect a princess like me to live in a town like this!" Oscar heard someone inside the carriage complain loudly.

The butler stuck his hand inside. A tall and beautiful young woman with long wavy platinum blonde hair stepped out of the carriage. She was wearing a long plain white dress and a gold choker. "Do be careful!" she yelled at a butler. "Oh! Let Nanda handle those!" she screeched. A short pretty lady with shoulder length straight brown hair took the boxes from the butler. They both had a thick maroon cloth draped over them.

"Princess Langwidere! It's a pleasure to get to meet you!" Frank said as he smiled broadly and kissed her hand.

"The pleasure is all mine." the princess mumbled with a cold expression of her face.

"King Frank!" A dark haired man said. "King Evoldo, how are you?" King Francis said as the two embraced each other.

"And I can see that you have already met my niece Langwidere ."

"And what a lovely lady she is too!"

Langwidere smiled, but Oscar could see that she wasn't happy.

"My servants have prepared a feast in your honor." Francis said.

"That was very kind of them." Langwidere said gently.


End file.
